BALTIMORE -- The Detroit Tigers were one inning away from their worst loss of the season. Then they pulled out a victory they won't soon forget.

The Tigers were dreadful offensively for eight innings Tuesday night. Then, a parade of clutch at-bats and key moments led to the biggest one of all: a game-changing home run by Miguel Cabrera that pulled the offense off the scrap heap and gave the Tigers a 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

"We just battle," Torii Hunter said. "We don't give up. We keep fighting at the plate, on the mound, on defense. You just can't give up. Baseball's a tough game."

There were almost too many turning points in the ninth inning to pick just one. The Cabrera home run was huge, but the Tigers never would have gotten to that point without multiple clutch moments.

Alex Avila

With the Orioles shifting hard toward the right side, Alex Avila beat the shift and went the opposite way for a single to get the inning started. Is a single a big deal? It was Tuesday night for the Tigers. They had just three hits -- all singles -- through the first eight innings and had sent just one batter over the minimum to the plate to that point. Besides, Avila did exactly what he needed to do to put the tying run on with three outs to go.

Avila exited the game, Rajai Davis entered and promptly stole second base. But it wasn't your run-of-the-mills steal. Orioles rookie catcher Caleb Joseph, who already had thrown out three Tigers on the bases in the game, made a great throw to second base. Davis was initially ruled out.

Brad Ausmus challenged the call and it was overturned after a lengthy delay. It might not have been the closest call the Tigers have had overturned this season, but it certainly was the biggest.

"It was probably the most significant replay that we've had," Ausmus said. "I don't know if it was the closest, but it may be. There was one other steal that was real close, but it may be."

Torii Hunter

Two outs later, Hunter stepped into the batter's box to a chorus of boos based on the previous night's events, when he got into a jawing match with Orioles pitcher Bud Norris after Norris hit him with a pitch. Hunter shrugged off the reaction of the crowd.

"I've been booed a hundred times," Hunter said. "Booing's good. Booing's not bad. Booing means you did something to make 'em pissed off."

Hunter fell behind in the count 1-2 against closer Tommy Hunter, who was one pitch from the save and a 1-0 shutout win for Baltimore. But Hunter battled back and eventually drew a walk to bring Miguel Cabrera to the plate.

"The key at-bat was Torii's," Martinez said. "I called that at-bat the at-bat of the year so far. It was an amazing at-bat. He went out there and fell behind 1-2 in the count. … He did good work to bring the big man to the plate. It was huge."

Miguel Cabrera

Cabrera reached out over the plate for a 1-0 breaking ball and somehow pulled it to the left side of center field for a three-run home run. Just like that, the Tigers had transformed one of their worst offensive showings of the season into one of their most dramatic victories.

"He came in first pitch and then tried to get him off balance with the curveball," Torii Hunter said of Tommy Hunter. "That pitch was up but it was away. Miggy reached out and touched it. That's pretty impressive."

Drew Smyly, who pitched well for six innings while keeping the Tigers in the game, watched the drama unfold from the clubhouse. He could barely stand still after the game while recounting the events.

The home run by Cabrera was the first extra-base hit of the night for the Tigers. It was the first hit with a runner in scoring position.

Victor Martinez

In fact, the offense had been so putrid to that point that the Tigers were 0-for-0 with runners in scoring position in the first eight innings. They had only one runner reach second base in the first eight innings -- Hunter in the seventh -- and he was eliminated due to a poor baserunning decision before Victor Martinez could complete his at-bat.

"It was pretty quiet in the dugout for the first eight innings," Ausmus said. "But you never know in baseball. You never know what's going to happen."

Martinez put an exclamation point on the win with an absolute mammoth home run to right field. Joe Nathan wrapped things up with a save in the ninth inning, and the Tigers had their seventh consecutive road win and Justin Miller his first major league victory.

Justin Miller

"It's a great feeling," Smyly said. "Every win's a great feeling. They're hard to come by. People don't realize. Wins are hard. They're very hard to get. Every game, you're battling for the win. They're never easy."

Smyly was speaking of the difficulty of picking up a pitching victory. But it fit how hard the Tigers fought to stay alive in this game, too.

"It felt great," Martinez said. "I think that shows everybody what kind of team we have. We never give up. This game, you have to get 27 outs. You never know what's going to happen."